The Magician // All 21 Episodes Plus TV Movie Pilot

I liked every episode. There was one episode once I found out an important clue to the trick I knew how it was done due to the fact an episode of Jonathan Creek did the very same trick years later. So that ruined it a tiny bit, but not altogether. It is a shame the series did not last very long, I am guessing they ran out of magic tricks and stories to tell.

Absolutely brilliant! Totally forgot about this gem of a TV show. Remember watching this back in the 70s with mum and dad. What a great detective show a magician is the detective Bill Bixby is absolutely brilliant I paid£44 and have no regrets at all. Their is no swearing blood and gore just brilliant scripts and acting and phenomenal stunts no CGI back then. Some episodes are a bit grainy but still very watchable and sound quality is pretty good and definitely better than the original airing. The case state ntc but it does play on pal region 2 I have been using the disc's on my PS4. A great magician detective family friendly series you can watch with your children grandchildren and tell them how great the 70s was. Going to a magical theme restaurant with a live magical performance show WOW!

This is a little known gem of the early 1970s US detective genre, with the added quirk that Bill Bixby's character (Tony Blake) is a famous magician (Bixby, apparently a keen amateur magician, performed his own tricks on screen).I remember watching the series in the UK in about 1975, I think. It has an intriguing and interesting premise and holds your attention with its twists and turns. Blake lives (initially) on a private Boeing 720 jet and drives a white Corvette Stingray which fits in the jet via a rear ramp! In later episodes he lives at The Magic Castle club, a real magic club in LA. Many well known faces to look out for & locations such as the Pike amusement park & Queen Mary in Long Beach.The picture quality is surprisingly good considering its age.Recommended.

Everything was fine . But I think there is the 1st episode missing

excellent thank you.

excellent product and excellent service

Speedy delivery exelent series

So glad they finally published an official DVD version of the Magician. As far as I can tell, every episode is uncut, and the picture and sound quality are fine. Only the incidental music at the Magic Castle shows is unoriginal.What makes this show to stand out is first the basic premise of a professional magician Tony Blake (Bill Bixby) working as an unpaid private sleuth, aided by an investigating journalist Max Pomeroy (Keene Curtis). Blake solved the mysteries through a combination of intelligence and magic, not ever resorting to outright violence or meanness -- or going sci-fi. Pomeroy provided Blake with confidential and difficult to get background material (remember, this show was made during the real-life Watergate scandal). Both Bixby and Curtis played their roles extremely convincingly. After all, Bixby was an accomplished amateur magician, and supposedly performed himself all his character's tricks in the show.Second, most guest stars are first rate from William Shatner to the gorgeous Lynda Day George.Third, the show is a visual treat if you like early 1970's fashion from clothing and cars to interior decoration. The studio actually built a real size mock jet interior, and later an imitation of the Magic Castle's stage room. Blake drove a brand new white Corvette (Chevrolet supplied the cars for the show from a Caprice to a Nova), and was probably among the first to wear a digital wrist watch.Originally, the plan was to make a TV show "with lots of flair", in Bixby's words. He planned to fly in his character's Boeing jet "Spirit" around the world to promote the show. Nothing came of this, and the series became a great might-have-been.The making of the Magician got to a poor start due to screenwriters' strike, delaying the production. Once it got underway, the standard of scripts, direction, and production varied greatly from one episode to another. They had to film 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. While Bixby said he liked the rushed schedule, the pressure inevitably had a negative impact on the overall quality of the show. The producers, writers and directors disagreed on what the Magician should be like: in the end there was no obvious target audience: some episodes appealed mainly to children, others to more mature viewers.This mixed bag makes you appreciate all the more the really good episodes, and heartily laugh at the more campy ones. Thus, even if the Magician was not the best-made action series of its era, curiously its shortcomings rather add to than diminish its appeal.Bixby's charisma was the show's carrying force. Other regular cast members' personas were underdeveloped. Pomeroy / Curtis became fed up repeating Blake's altruistic motives to get involved in strangers' troubles, and abruptly left the show in mid-season. His replacement, Joe Sirola (Dominick), was an accomplished actor, but his role as a funny butler was less original and interesting than his predecessor's. Pomeroy's son Dennis (Todd Crespi) was dropped from the series after a few episodes.Blake's pilot Jerry Anderson (Jim Watkins / Julian Christopher) became extra baggage after Blake ditched his Boeing jet and moved into the top floor of the Magic Castle. Curiously, Watkins remained a cast member in the opening titles to the very end of the series, although he no longer appeared in the episodes.In addition to the varying quality of the episodes, failing to fit into established Hollywood action series' pigeonholes probably contributed to the the Magician' undoing. He wasn't a traditional macho like Cannon, as realistic as Kojak, or sci-fi unlike the Six Million Dollar Man -- all popular series at the time the Magician flopped. The Magician flew and still flies in its very own orbit, and that makes the show so captivating entertanement.

I had never seen this show before but I was a fan of Bill Bixby in other shows, when I was a child. He did not disappoint in The Magician.This show definitely could have run for several seasons, it had an Interesting concept, quite different from other TV shows in that era.Bill Bixby was a fine actor (and magician!) who left this world much too soon. Very sad. I thought about that while watching these episodes. I'm glad I took a chance on this set, I'm only sorry there are just 4 discs to view.Sound and picture quality are fine throughout.Love that gypsy theme music and the "mod" clothes, sleek cars and oh so groovy hairstyles! What a great decade that was for style.😏Packaging is fine too.Helpful votes are most appreciated!😏

I watched this show on TV as a kid and loved it. I was so happy to see it now on DVD. All the episodes and the Pilot movie are included and the quality is excellent. I’m very happy with my purchase.

Loved this TV series when I was a kid. Saw it on Amazon and had to purchase. Some reviews had me a little concerned saying the DVD's would not play. Using my computer the DVD loads but to select an episode you can directly select an episode, but can use the arrow keys to go down to a specific episode and once there hit enter and it starts the play. So, slightly indirect but works. Not sure on a an Actual DVD/Blu-ray player if there is anything odd or not. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this old series. For anyone that remembers this show and wants to revisit, highly recommend.

One of my favourite T.V. Series from the early ‘70’s, this collection brings back some great memories.